Traumatic injuries are amongst the most common presentations for all emergency departments (ED). In 2010, there were over 1 million patients in Canada who visited the ED for trauma, result in an cost of almost 9 billion dollars. Yet, in spite of their frequency, there remains a great deal of practice variation and uncertainty about the optimal imaging approach in these patients. In this post, we will explore the existing and emerging evidence of imaging in selected traumatic presentations. The gains in performance from CT must be weighed against the possible downsides of completely replacing X-ray with CT: what will be the effect of patients waiting for imaging? Increased radiation doses for younger patients? Expected increases in volume from community centres transferring patients to have their C-spines cleared with CT? Advancements in CT technology have transformed how we manage severely injured patients. With the introduction of multi-detector scanners, we are obtaining thinner-slices resulting in higher resolution and shorter acquisition times.

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